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Brief History of Indian Railways and RPF

In the year 1832 the first Railway running on steam engine, was launched in
England. Thereafter in May 1843 a young Engineer Graham Clark got down from a ship
harbored at Mumbai (then Bombay). He was sent to India at the insistence of the
Textile Industrialists of Manchester, Lancashire, Liverpool, in England to find out how
and in which part of India a railway can be built which would be useful to transport cheap
cotton from Indian hinterland first to Bombay Harbor and then from there to England by
ship.

Thereafter on 1st of August, 1849 the Great Indian Peninsular Railways
Company was established in India. On 17th of August 1849, a contract was signed
between the Great Indian Peninsular Railways Company and East India Company.

As a result of the contract an experiment was made by laying a railway track
between Bombay and Thane (56 Kms.).

On 16th April, 1853, the first train service was started from Bombay to Thane.

On 15th August, 1854, the 2nd train service commenced between Howrah
and Hubli.

On the 1st July, 1856, the 3rd train service in India and first in South India
commenced between Vyasarpadi and Walajah Road and on the same day the
section between Vyasarpadi and Royapuram by Madras Railway Company was also
opened.

Subsequently construction of this efficient transport system began
simultaneously in different parts of the Country. By the end of 19th Century 24752
Kms. of rail track was laid for traffic. At this juncture the power, capital, revenue rested
with the British. Revenue started flowing through passenger as well as through goods
traffic.

The anti-social elements came to know about the Railway & the goods carried
by it and they started stealing goods from railways. However, there is no idea as to when
the criminal activities on railways started. But in the year 1878, when the whole country
was affected by drought, the crime increased and the problem was noticed by the
authorities concerned.

Due to the rise in crime on railways, revenue from railway was worst
affected and a new problem of protecting the property, carried through the railways
arose. The situation warranted a Force to protect the railway property and which paved
way for the germination of Railway Protection Force.

GENESIS OF RPF:

Since Railways have a linear territory traversing interstate lines, a
corresponding linear defence has been hard to provide. Nevertheless, the genesis of
such an endeavour can be traced back to 1854 when East Indian Railways company
employed certain staff designated as "Police". Seven years later the Government of
India under the British Rule too used the term "POLICE" to note its own force by
enacting the Police Act, 1861 and deployed a contingent for the security of the
railway with the owner companies. The expenditure was met with the ratio of 75% : 25%
by Railways and States respectively. By 1882, as a result of formal division of the
Police Force deployed on the railways into "Government Police" and "Private
(Companies) Police", the Railway Companies directly assumed the responsibility of
protection and security of their property as well as of the goods entrusted to them by
public for carriage. For this, they appointed "Chowkidars" for various departments and
placed them under control of their local departmental heads. All the Railway
companies in India followed the system of protecting the property entrusted to their
company for carriage. The "Chowkidari" system was effective to some extent in the
protection of railway property which made the provincial Government to develop railway
administration. In the year 1890, the Indian Railways Act and concerning Rules about
the Administration of Railways were passed. In course of time the entire adminsitration
of railways came under the control of the Indian Government (British Rule). In the year
1905, a separate department for railways was established by constituting a Railway
Board, whose chief was designated as "Chairman". In the year 1914, during the first
World War the Railway service was worst affected. With an increase in commercial
traffic and consequential steep rise in the incidence of theft of goods, entrusted to
railways for carriage, in the year 1921, for the better protection of Railways and the
property entrusted with Railways the Indian Government appointed a committee named
"Police Inquiry Committee" headed by Shri.Thomson with Police Officials, Railway
Officials and Public as members. The Committee examined the security system
and recommended for reorganising the Chowkidari system in existance during that
period. The "Chowkidari" system was reorganised into Watch & Ward organisation
under a single Superior Officer designated as Superintendent, Watch & Ward. In the year
1939, when the II World war broke-out, the crime against Railway once again increased
especially in railway workshops & stores and the "Watch & Ward" system was also
proved inadequate. Between 10th April, 1950 and 14th April, 1952 a great change in
Railway administration took place under the Republic of India. The Indian Railways was
divided into 6 zones paving way for the zonal administration. A committee under
Shri.B.N.Mullik, recommended the Railway Board to induct Watch & Ward in every
department of Railway.

Though the Watch & Ward was used for providing security to the vital artery of
National Communication and economic progress did not itself have any legislative
status. The Watch & Ward units were found to be hoplessly inadequate for the
purpose for which they were intended, due to lack of proper training. In July 1953, the
Railway Board appointed Shri.B.N.Lahari, retired IG of UP Police as Security Adviser
the Railway Board to work out the details of re-organisation of the Watch &
Ward department. Shri.B.N.Mullik, the then Director of Intelligence Bureau and
Shri.B.N.Lahari, the then Security Adviser to the Railway Board recommended to
the Govt. of India to transform the erstwhile Watch & Ward department of Indian
Railways in to a "Statutory Force" and vest in it requisite legal powers for efficient
discharge of its duties of providing better protection to Raiwlay property. The Govt. of
India had accepted the aforesaid recommendations. Accordingly the "RAILWAY
SECURITY FORCE" (RSF) was formed and the training for the members of RSF
commenced on 12th March, 1953, in State Police training schools. The RSF was vested
with a very limited legal power of arrest under the Indian Railways Act.

In the year 1954, a Chief Security Officer (CSO) was appointed to RSF in each
zonal railway. In order to make the RSF into a statutory Force and vest in it requisite
legal powers for efficient discharge of its duty of providing better protection to the
railway property. The Govt. of India after due discussion enacted Railway Stores
(Unlawful Possession) Act 1955. As per the Act the members of RSF can detain a person
in unlawful possession of railway property and to work with the State Police in further
prosecution of the offenders. The above powers vested with RSF too proved to be
insufficient to tackle the crime against railway property. Then as per the
recommendations of the then Director/Intelligence Bureau (Home Ministry), to establish
Police system in Railway, Railway Protection Force was made in the year 1956. On 29th
August, 1957, Railway Protection Force Act was enacted by the Parliament, the RPF
Rules were made on 10th September, 1959 and RPF Regulations were formulated in
1966.

HISTORY OF RP(UP) ACT :

The railway crimes, however, continued to be detected, investigated and
prosecuted by the State Police or the Govt. Railway Police under the Railway Stores
(Unlawful Possession) Ordinances (Ordinace No.XIX of 1944). It was repealed after the
formulation of Railway Stores (Unlawful Possession) Act 1955. With the further rise in
crimes and the State Police tackling preoccupation with the law and order problems, left
them with little time for the specialised nature of the railway crimes. This alongwith
some serious working defects in the Railway Stores (U.P.) Act, 1955, brought about the
RP(UP) Act in the year 1966. This Act not only repealed the Railway Stores Act, 1955
but also extended better legal coverage to the railway property on account of its salient
features viz.

The officers of the RPF are vested with the powers of investigation and
prosecution of the unlawful possession of the railway property while under the repealed
Railway Stores Act, 1955 this power vested in the State Police.

a) The definition of the Railway property includes;

i. Goods ii. Money iii. Valuable security iv. Animal and Birds
v. Belonging to or in charge or possession of a railway administration.

Which is the property of any railway administration; and
which is used or intended to be used in the construction, operation or
maintenance of the railway.

railway property has been extended to include booked consignments also while
under the old Act, booked consignments, goods, money valuable security were not
included under the definition of the railway property.

The offences under this Act are non-cognizable which give a major relief to the
State Police while the offences under old Act were cognizable.

A provision of deterrent punishment has been made under this Act which extends
up to 5 years' imprisonment and fine.

A special evidentiary rule has been incorporated which shifts the burden of proof
from the prosecution to the accused.

The proceedings under this Act have been made judicial for the purposes of
Sections 193 and 228, IPC.

The provisions of various other laws both substantive, procedural and evidentiary
are also supplementing it at various stages of the arrests, search, inquiry, trial and
disposal of the case property.

Growing complexities of the times and the socio-economic & the political trends
in the country out passed the then existed frame work of the Force. Disruption and
litigation found a new ambience and the validity of the RPF Regulations, 1966 was
challenged. For that the parliamentary committee of fifth Loksabha in para 17 of their
14th report presented to the parliament on 20th December, 1974 interalia recommended
that the RPF Regulations, 1966 be either incorporated in the RPF Rules or Published in
the Official Gazette of India to provide legal sanctity. But when the regulations were sent
to the Ministry of Law for vetting, it returned the file on 2nd November, 1982, on the
ground that the RPF does not confirm any powers on the executive to frame regulations.

The RPF Act 1957 was accordingly amended by the Parliament through an act
No.60 of 1985 on the 20th September, 1985 for the constitution and maintenance of the
Force as an Armed Force of the Union. For carrying out the purpose of the Act, the job
of framing a comprehensive set of Rules was entrusted to Shri.Dharam Veer Mehta, IPS,
AIG/RPF/W.Rly. He examined the existing provisions of Rules, Regulations, Standing
Orders, Police Manuals, recommendations, Ruling and other executives & administrative
instructions and drafted rules. The Ministry of Railways after a few modifications
submitted a comprehensive draft containing 280 Rules on the subject in the year 1986 to
provide the Force with modern statutory apparatus to meet the challenges of the time.
The draft and its legality was carefully examined by all concerned and notified by the
Central Government in the Gazette of India on 3rd December, 1987 and copies of its
notification laid on the tables of both the houses of Parliament on 9th & 10th December,
1987. The necessity of the re-framing of Rules was to carry out the new concept of
constituting RPF as an Armed Forces of the Union, thus giving legal sanctity to the
Force.